The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-08-14
suFfeRlna ANIMALS.
How Livestock Is Tor,nented by Different
Species Of the Fly Family.

How Livestock is Tormented by Different
Species of the Fly Family.
Judging from the plague Of Aies
which In sutahlef tofments the farmer
and his cattle one may. have pretty
fair idea Of how the abeibht Egyptians
must have suffered under their serious
infliction. Flies everywhere, of all
kinds, most pernicious and Astounding,
must have been most unbeatable
plague But does the farmer whose
Imagination furnishes from what he
knows OF aies himself a pretty lively
tomparison of what intolcrable perse-
cution these lively and industrious
pests are capable, realize the suffering
inflicted by them upon his livestock
Take notice, for instance. Of his
horse. This long-suffering beast Is tor
mented by the bipod-thirsty fly which
bites the ears and face and no other
part of the body, and if it can get In
side the ear and fasten there to enjoy
its feast of blood it makes the horse al
most wild. This is Chrysops. or the
golden-eyed fly, of which two species
exist The black fly Simultum naoles-
tum, is a still worse pest, and some
times on the prairies and the Northern
woods alights on its victim in such
numbers as to hide its color and make
the body stream with blood. Such at
taeks are at times fatal to the wretched
beast who rolls in anguish in the vain
attempt to get rid of its pursuers who
surround it in clouds.
The large, green-headed Tabanus, Of
which there are two species, is pecu-
liarly injurious fly, taking with its
sharp, pincer like mandibles, great
bites out of the flesh, and causing blood
to flow in streams. Death not infre-
qnently ensues from the attacks of this
fly, which at times is very numerous.
The exceedingly troublesome bot fly is
universal pest, and not for its bite,
but on account of an instructive dread
which horses have of 1t, it worries them
exceedingly. In the field it, at times,
causes the team to ruin away with the
plow, SO persistently does it hover with
its buzz about the animals heads and
shoulders. An exceedingly injurious
pest in the South and West is Hip
pobosca hubonis. a red. leathery fly
which is related to the sheep tick and
is common In the woods 1t fastens
onto the horse in some spot where the
victim can not reach it, as under the
jaws, on the head or under the name,
and, burying its head in the skin, sucks
the blood continually until its hateful
life ends and it drops off to give place
to its successors. We have seen a
young colt reduced to moving skel-
eton by these pests, scores of which
were hidden under the coat and thus
escaped notice. Southern farmers
should especially be on their guard
against this creature.
But perhaps the worst of all flies,
which makes life miserable to the
prosecuted horses, is the stable fly,
Stomo1ys catcirass; SO named because
its prosecutions causing the horses to
kick the whole night long. 1t is a
black fly, almost exactly like a house
fly, but is furnished with sharp,
piercing weapon and a powerful sue
ton pump by which it draws the blood
from it's victims. 1t is attracted by the
strong odor of the stable, and in ILL
kept yards and barns it gathers very
numerously, preying upon its victims
mostly at night. 1t attacks cows as
well as horses, and is nuisance at
milking time, when it takes a fancy to
the mixers ankles and pierces them
like lancet. These are the flies
which gather on the cows legs and
cause them to kick at milking time and
throw their heads around to their sides
to drive off the persistent tormcntors.
Mosquitoes require no word of COM
ment. They are Il universal nuisance
and give world of trouble to our suffer-
ing animals. So the house-fies, by
their number and their pertinacity, be-
come nuisance of the first magnitude.
These flies possess a peculiar instru-
ment of torture in their rasplike
tongue, with which they lick their
victims and produce an intolerable
itching and irritation. Sometimes
they cause a tender skin to become in
famed and sore by this scraping, and
by their buzzing weary their victims
most intolerably.
No doubt the profit from our horses
and cows, not to mention the smaller
stock, is reduced quite considerably by
oil thoca re anatpct nf which
we have no means of safety. From
some of them we may protect our ami
mails. The horses when at work can
be guarded by hoods which fit over the
ears and part of the neck, and the
bodies by linen sheets strapped so as to
leave the lower part loose and Tapping.
Tassels or short strips, hanging so as
to strike the knees at every step. will
be great protection against the bot
flies. At night clean stable, with
open windows protected by wire cause
screens, and freed from flies before
dusk by thick tar smoke, made by STIR
ring pot of tar with hot iron rod;
and the application of tanzy or worm
wood juice to the legs, will secure
peace for our horses and cows from the
stable and house flies. We have found
Persian insect powder or "buhach, "
literally busted about the stalls and
managers and thrown on the legs, to be
most useful protection against these
flies. Washing the horses occasionally
with soap and water, and then giving
them a thorough rinsing off, or a bath
in river or pond, will afford consid-
cradle protection and will be exceed
ingly grateful and healthful to the
tired horses.-M Y. Times.
"A Buffalo man says there are
enough shingles sold in that city every
year to supply every father in the land
with an instrument of physical punish
ment. 1t is estimated that there are
15,OOO,0 900 fathers in the country who
annually inhict 1877, 100000 spankings,